Lidl GB - GB0927Reviews 

This review relates to the store in Stowmarket, Suffolk.

We have been using this store for over 3 years, but our patience has been stretched to the limit now by its constant and excessively loud tannoy announcements, about which tills are opening and which are closing (who actually cares?).

Over the last few weeks the decibel levels of these announcements has been increasing exponentially, to the point where they are actually aurally painful. When you are trying to shop it is not conducive to a relaxed and enjoyable retail experience, where you are trying to concentrate on what you need to buy, and you are constantly being told in a deafening manner what is taking place at the tills! It is irrelevant and unnecessary, apart from extremely aggravating.

Isn't it amazing that no other supermarket chain does this and yet their customers somehow manage to find their way to a checkout that is open and are able to complete the shopping process!

I have had the misfortune to be right underneath one of Lidl's speakers when it has blasted off, causing me considerable ear pain and alarm, to the point where I could quite easily have dropped the product I happened to be holding at that time (it was a bottle of some sort). In addition to the ear-splitting and redundant messages, the Stowmarket store always seem to have the air of a jumble sale about it - scruffy; unfilled shelves; empty boxes all over the place; cages abandoned in already narrow aisles, making it even more difficult to shop in what is a very uncomfortable environment. We have now switched much of our shopping to the peaceful and relaxing Aldi store (very few speaker announcements) which is less than a mile down the road, and we are considering removing our custom from Lidls all together, unless they improve very quickly what is a very poor customer experience.

Just to highlight this problem and Lidl's couldn't-care-less attitude to it, when I complained about the incessant and too loud tannoy announcements to a member of staff, they said, "There's nothing we can do about it. If we turn them down customers don't hear them!" My response to that is, "You CAN do something about it - turn them off! And do customers really want, or need them in any case???" Customer care and protecting their customers from potentially damaging noise levels are self-evidently foreign countries to Lidl. And there is absolutely no point in contacting what Lidls laughingly calls "Customer Care" - they seem to specialise in ignoring complaints!

UPDATE: I see that "Jemma" the AI bot (sadly missing the 'I') has given its usual template response, and "No" I'm not going to do your job for you, unless Lidl is prepared to pay me my usual consultancy rate of £150 per hour!

You have all the information you need to deal with the duty of care that Lidl should have towards its customers, and blasting their eardrums with unnecessary messages is not how any other retail outlet treats its clientele. Just turn off these stupid announcements or reduce their decibel levels by about 100 to a whisper.

Also, get more staff so you can have more checkouts open and also ensure the shelves are filled and the store is tidy, so customers can actually get around the store without obstacles in their path. If the local Fire Brigade ever visit this store for a safety check when there are unattended cages on the shopfloor, they will close you down in an instant.

There "Jemma", a few things for you to get on with - you don't need an email from me - you'd probably only ignore it anyway!